At the beginning of his Gospel, Matthew traces Jesus' lineage back through the line of Israel's kings, back to David, and all the way back to Abraham. This family tree establishes Jesus as a true Jew, a son of Abraham, and it places him in the line of David, asserting that he is legally and theologically able to be the King of Israel. But perhaps even more importantly, by tracing Jesus’ lineage back through this line of kings, many of whom were shady and even reprehensible rulers, Matthew traces an arc through the line of broken hopes and unfulfilled promises, through the highs and lows of Israel’s past, through their blessings and their curses to show us exactly what Jesus’ life was for. Jesus is more than just the King that we have been waiting for; in Jesus, God is finally bringing God’s promises to Abraham to full fruition. It is through Jesus that the people of Israel will be blessed and it is through Jesus that that same blessing will overflow onto all the peoples of the world.

All of those between Abraham and Jesus were disappointed and disappointments; none of them could be the blessing, the answer that Israel was looking for. ​But from these first words of his Gospel, Matthew shows us that Jesus recapitulates, reclaims, and redeems Israel's stories of disappointment and failure.